"When everybody puts (on) the gi, they're the same. You know what makes us different? The heart." - Saulo Ribeiro

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

BIG BUGS AND BEACHES!

DAY 5

Here’s a little life lesson from the beach yesterday:

There was a huge moth right at the edge of the water. It was soaked and stuck to the sand. It was beating its wings as hard as it could to free itself, but it was no use. A little girl was working feverishly to build a breakwater out of sand to protect it from the waves. A big wave crashed over the breakwater and swept the moth out to sea. The little girl shrugged her shoulders and walked away.

I figure the moral of the story is this: when your shit is really on the line, you can’t rely on anybody.

We spent today driving around and checking out some more beaches. A beautiful morning turned into a scorcher of an afternoon. The sand at one beach was so hot I have blisters on the bottom of my feet. I have the weirdest splotchy sunburn today, too.

The only jiu jitsu content in today’s drive was the accidental discovery of an academy on the road to Praia Campeche. It is in a fitness centre that offers boxing, TKD and bodybuilding. Here’s a link. http://www.clicklojas.com.br/rangelfarias/ It’s not a priority, but if I have time I might check it out.

We had a great afternoon at Lagoa Pari, a freshwater lake that seemed more popular than the ocean beaches in the area. I can see why. The lake is ringed by mountains and the water was shallow and warm. Aya just loved it, because she could wade out far from shore and only be n up to her waist. I was still watching her like a hawk of course. The lake was full of tiny fish that kept nibbling at my feet and legs. Between the fish and the bugs, it’s like this country is trying to eat me one tiny morsel at a time.

The lake was in this amazing little park that was set up with family BBQ areas. There were about a half dozen families hanging out, having a few beers and grilling meat on those giant sword-kabobs. I only have a few days to base my impressions on , but it seems like family is important here. It's just a nice thing to see.

We’d arranged for the fixer and her boyfriend to cook us some traditional Brazilian dishes for supper. There were two kinds of fish, some sort of shrimp stew, a mango salsa and rice. It was all great. And it’s nice to have someone else do the cooking and cleaning for you in your own house.

I also got her to make some more calls about jiu jitsu. She confirmed my appointment for 1pm tomorrow with Glenio for a semi-private lesson for me and Russ. It’s Russ’s fifth jiu jitsu lesson ever, so I am stoked for him to be training in Brazil already.

She also helped me set up a private lesson with Marvio Charles. Marvio competes for Gracie Florianopolis and teaches privates to tourists at a local surf academy. I only know a bit about him from google, he has a silver medal from the 2006 mundials as a brown. He has competed against Andre Galvao – so you know he’s competing at the very highest level. The price is a bit steeper at about $70 Canadian. But he has bills to pay and he also picks you up and drops you off. It’s still reasonable by Canadian standards. My plan is to just ask what his specialty is and go from there.

Two private lessons in one day – should be memorable.

Tonight it’s raining as usual. What’s unusual is all the bugs on our deck. I tried to get a decent picture of one – but it doesn’t convey the scale. Suffice to say it’s a bright green, big-ass bug and not the sort of thing you want to see on your kitchen window.